1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to game machines and, more specifically, to a ticket vending machine, which prevents the people from damaging the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll or stealing it.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a ticket-vending machine according to the prior art. According to this design, a toothed cutting plate A3 is fixedly fastened to a cutter rack A4, keeping the toothed cutting edge A31 above the top side of the cutter rack A4; the cutter rack A4 has two mounting flanges A41 respectively fastened to two side boards A11 of the machine base A1; an impression plate A5 is provided having two pivot rods A51 respectively coupled to a respective pivot hole A111 of the side boards A11 and two bearing portions A52 supported on the side boards A11; a face panel A2 is fastened to front lugs A112 of the base frame A1, having a ticket outlet A21 aimed at a guide face A42 of the cutter rack A4. This structure of ticket vending machine is complicated, resulting in high manufacturing cost. Further, when the user pulls out the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll, the continuous ticket sheet may not be properly cut off by the toothed cutting edge of the toothed cutting plate.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a ticket vending machine, which prevents people from damaging the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll or stealing it. To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the ticket vending machine comprises a base frame; a face panel fixedly mounted on a front side of the base frame, the face panel having a ticket outlet; a side plate fixedly vertically mounted on one lateral side of the base frame remote from the face panel; an axle perpendicularly fixedly mounted on the side plate and suspended above the base frame and holding a ticket roll for enabling the lead end of the continuous ticket :sheet of the ticket roll to be extended to the ticket outlet of the face panel; a control unit mounted in the base frame, the control unit comprising a control circuit board, a gear box, and a sheet-transfer cylinder assembly, and controlled by the control circuit board to transfer the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll to the ticket outlet of the face panel; and a cutting unit mounted inside the base frame between the gear box and the face panel and adapted to cut off the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll. The face panel is comprised of a first shell and a second shell fastened together. The first shell and the second shell have respective guides defining a passageway adapted to guide the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll from the sheet-transfer cylinder assembly to the ticket outlet for enabling the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll to be cut by the cutting unit. The cutting unit comprises a horizontal cutting hole through which the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll passes from the sheet-transfer cylinder assembly to the ticket outlet, and a cutting plate controlled to reciprocate over the cutting hole and to cut off the continuous ticket sheet of the ticket roll.